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Literacy skills are needed across all curriculum areas, from reading Maths questions precisely to searching for bias in historical sources. Pupils should be able to read and write fiction and non-fiction. For too long in this country the KS2 English SATs paper concentrated on non-fiction. (“Describe your favourite meal.”) Pressure from Head teachers and writers led to a change…the irony being the creative writing test contained “no element of creativity”.

At Stoneygate we want pupils to be creative. We want pupils to enjoy reading and writing fiction.

Last week pupils were enthralled by Mrs Angell’s poetry recital of ‘Albert and the Lion’.

Mrs Angell with a particularly good Lancastrian accent…

Could I thank the numerous Reception and Year 1 parents who attended a Reading and Phonics Workshop after school on Monday. The aim of the session was to show how children learn to read, write and spell in the early years. Parents attempted ‘pure sounds,’ blending sounds together to make words and segmenting to spell. There were also suggestions on how to make reading fun and the importance of reading to children.

Several Headmaster’s Awards this week went to pupils linked to their creative writing.

Rosie’s story (Y3), “The Little Lost Cave Man” was not only beautifully written, but also included wonderful animations.

Our pupils do produce work of outstanding quality. Here are two extracts from their work this week…

“Deep down, under the huge waves, where the light is slowly fading away, where the flora and fauna are sparse, is where the mermaid is. She is waiting there- as timeless as it seems- silently waiting for something. What? Only she knows.

Her long majestic tail flutters slowly behind her. Her lengthy blue-black hair, dotted with pearls, diamonds and sapphires flows down her front. Her steely-grey eyes light up and are welcoming. She catches your gaze.

But don’t trust her, (as docile as she seems), for mermaids are ferocious, ruthless creatures….”

Lightening flashed all around, huge tongues of blinding, petrifying light. I was terrified. I knew there would be a storm, but this was worse than I has thought. The ship rocked back and forth, back and forth as huge waves crashed over the ship. I was in a nightmare of inky blue darkness, thunder and an endless flood of water. Then I remembered. The three stowaways. How could I have forgotten them and their plan to escape with ‘it’ in a storm? Whatever ‘it’ was, ‘it’ would almost certainly be valuable. Then it struck me like a bolt of lightening: the diamond.

Lauren (Y7)

Today pupils from Years 8, 9 & 10 watched a performance of ‘Private Peaceful’ at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton. This moving novel, written by Michael Morpurgo, relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon: his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line.

Private Peaceful on stage today…

Keeping with all things theatrical , good luck to Josh (Y6) who will be performing at Her Majesty’s Theatre in the West End this weekend in a musical called “Troubles A Brewin’ .”

Other Headteacher’s Awards:

Dylan (Y8) for creative writing, Ellie (Y3) for a beautiful Stone Age poster and Oliver (Y3) for creating an impressive 3D WWI trench.

One final message, please don’t forget to support Mr Palmer and the Rainbows charity this weekend. Pupils from Stoneygate have ‘special access’ to get close to the guy (designed and made by our pupils).